Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4,471.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 332,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 324,836 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $47,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 21,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of Albemarle stock traded down $5.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $120.31. 1,103,798 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,200,786. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.69 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.